Saturday, 5 July 2014

WHEN IN ROME | architecture

The Colosseum and The Roman Forum

It was a cold night in the middle of December. 10 days before Christmas, to be exact. With my pillow and a suitcase in one hand and a bag full of food in the other, I came on the bus and make myself comfortable. Is even possible to be comfortable on the bus?! We were about to drive all night so I was overjoyed when I realized that I have two seats just for myself. I fell asleep and when I woke up in the morning we were already in the middle of Italy and this was the beginning of our pre-Christmas architecture field trip.

First stop was a large archaeological complex of over 30 buildings called Hadrian's Villa, named after the Roman Emperor Hadrian. This place was his escape out of Rome. It was his "holiday" destination with palaces, theatre, state rooms, libraries, several thermae, temples, green areas and spaces for slaves and other staff. Very modest, isn't it?

After that we visited all the important and well known architecture and tourist attractions from iconic Colosseum to Pantheon and Trevi fountain. We visited St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican and more. But there is not just the historical architecture worth to see when you are in Rome. We visited some very interesting modern buildings as well, as Jubilee Church, which reminds me of Sydney's opera house by the shape. I love the combination of the materials inside the church: travertine marble, white concrete, glass and wood.There is also Palazzetto dello Sport, indoor basketball arena, built for Summer olympics games in 1960. If you like the Colosseum, you can visit the modern version of it known as Colosseo Quadrato and for the end take a walk through Renzo Piano's Auditorium - Parco della Musica.

It was wonderful and also a great timing of the trip, because we have been learning about certain buildings at Architectural history and theory course at that time and it is so much more interesting and easy to learn when you see and "feel" the building, then just reading about it from a book.

Hadrian's Villa

Hadrian's Villa

Hadrian's Villa

Hadrian's Villa

Angel with a sponge, by Antonio Giorgetti / Tavere river and St. Peter's Basilica in the back / Pantheon